France vs. England Preview - Euro 2012

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Match Details:

Group:        D

Match:        France vs. England

Date:        Monday, June 11

kick-off times:    18:00 GMT

Venue:        Donbass Arena, Donetsk.

England begin their European Championship campaign against France on Monday 11th June as they aim to become the first ever English side to win the tournament.

After naming his squad of 23 on Wednesday, he immediately opened himself up to criticism by dropping Rio Ferdinand from the squad in favour of John Terry and including the likes of Stewart Downing and Andy Carroll despite relatively poor seasons with Liverpool.

In truth, it may well be a blessing in disguise for Hodgson as expectations are already low ahead of the group stages. It may well work to his advantage though as we know from previous tournaments how the English tend to buckle under the weighty expectations of their fans and media.

New England boss, Roy Hodgson will go into the game without the services of Manchester United striker, Wayne Rooney who will start the first of his two game suspension so much will depend on who England start up front. From their last friendly against Holland, of England three main strikers – Danny Welbeck, Daniel Sturridge and Frazier Campbell – none have scored an International goal with only 7 senior caps between them. Expect the likes of Ashley Young, Theo Walcott or Stewart Downing act as two of a three main front line with Darren Bent filling in the number 9 shirt if fit.

Following his role of captain against the Dutch last February, we’re expecting to see Scott Parker anchor the midfield alongside a much-improved Gareth Barry allowing Steven Gerrard to support Bent up front. The only question for the back four is whether or not Rio Ferdinand makes the plane to Ukraine. If the Manchester United centre half doesn’t make it, Chelsea duo John Terry and Gary Cahill should be the centre half partnership with Glen Johnson and Ashley Cole taking up the full backs spots.

For the French, they qualified top of Group D taking 21 points from a possible 30 following on from a disastrous World Cup 2010. New coach Laurent Blanc will be looking to recapture the form of the Euro 2000 side that went on to claim their second European Championship. The French coach will be delighted with his side’s form after their 2-1 win over Germany in Bremen in February. Montpellier striker Olivier Giroud scored his first international goal against the Germans while Chelsea wide man Florent Malouda continued his recent good form for the national side after scoring three goals in qualifying.

If France can get the likes of Samir Nasri, Franc Ribery and Real Madrid star Karim Benzema all fit and playing well, the French will fancy themselves to get off to the perfect start.